Five Times Kissed
by MrsRiggs
Summary: The four times Rose Gupta kissed Oscar Cole, and the one time he beat her to it. / In which Rose and Oscar have a slightly complicated story, with a much happier ending. ROSCAR! Oneshot. First M.I High oneshot so feedback would be much appreciated!


**THE FIRST TIME.**

St Hope's were holding a Christmas party for the first time in three years. Their last one had been such a disaster, Mr. Flatley refused to let another one happen again. But this year, after the begging from several students, he gave in. Carrie, Rose, Davina, Avril, Donovan and a handful of other students were in charge of decorating the hall with things like tinsel and mistletoe. There was even a huge Christmas tree in the corner of the room.

Carrie, Donovan, Davina and a few younger students were decorating the tree, while Avril and Rose were sticking mistletoe all around the room.

"I want Oscar to kiss me under the mistletoe." Avril announced to Rose, who rolled her eyes, feeling an undeniable tug of jealousy in her gut. She shoved it back. After all, Oscar could kiss who he liked. What did it matter to her?

Somewhere, deep down, she knew exactly why it mattered.

"Well, Avril, if you can find a way to trick him under the mistletoe, then yeah, he'll kiss you." Rose muttered. But Avril heard her.

"No need to be so jealous, Rose. I'm sure if you wait under the mistletoe long enough, someone will come and kiss you too." Avril sighed.

"Yeah, Avril, because people are obviously dumb enough to want to kiss Rose." Someone said, and she heard laughter. Avril giggled a little.

"Think it's funny, do you, Avril?" Oscar asked, and Rose jumped, wobbling on the ladder. She felt someone kick the ladder and saw a kid running away just as she fell backwards. She braced herself, but (as she should have expected), she fell into strong arms instead. She turned her head to meet Oscar's eye, heart fluttering as she noticed the soft look in his eyes. "You alright?" he whispered.

She nodded and he set her down. Oscar turned to look up at Avril. "How would you like it if someone was making fun of you?" he asked, obviously angry at her.

"Oscar, it was just a joke!" Avril protested.

"A joke that stemmed from you wanting to kiss me." Oscar pointed out.

Everyone went silent as Avril went bright red. "Oscar…"

"Forget it, Avril. If you're going to be the kind of person that makes fun of people I care about, then really, I don't want to kiss you. Not," he added. "That I would have anyway. I don't believe in mistletoe kisses."

Later on, at the party, Rose stayed by the drinks table, avoiding the dancefloor and, more importantly, Oscar. Mainly because she figured that Avril would eventually convince him to kiss her, and frankly, she wasn't sure she'd be able to stand watching the two of them. She sipped at a drink.

"Enjoying yourself?" a soft voice said at her shoulder.

She almost jumped out of her skin, but Oscar gently grabbed her arm, steadying her before she spilled her drink. Rose set the drink down, laughing.

"Avril hasn't tried to ambush you yet, then?" she asked, turning to look at him, an eyebrow arched.

"No. Me saying I don't believe in mistletoe kisses must have put her off." Oscar shrugged.

"Were you being serious?" Rose inquired, curiously.

"Yeah. I mean, if you wanna kiss someone, why use mistletoe as an excuse?" Oscar asked.

"It's just tradition." Rose's eyes traveled upwards, and paled. Attached to the banner above them (and I mean directly above them), hung some neatly-placed mistletoe. Her eyes widened, and Oscar followed her gaze.

"Oh." He said. "Did you know that was…"

"No." Rose muttered. "I'm not actually sad enough to sit under the mistletoe and hope someone approaches me. Avril must have put it there because she knew I'd be standing here the whole night. God, that girl does my head in." she sighed.

Hesitantly, she lowered her gaze to Oscar's. Was it just her, or was he blushing? No, she had to be imagining it. Without even thinking, she leaned across and pecked him on the lips, so quickly he wouldn't have time to react.

"Like I said," she said, voice rushed and a little higher in pitch. "Tradition. I'm gonna go find Carrie."

With that, she ignored his call of her name and pushed her way through the crowd, cheeks bright pink.

She'd just kissed the boy of her dreams. Under the mistletoe. And Avril was giving her the most evil look ever, because just her luck, everyone had seen.

* * *

 **THE SECOND TIME.**

Rose and Oscar were trapped in a dark room at SKUL's HQ. They only knew the other was there because they were sitting so close together. In the dim lighting, Rose could make out Oscar's features, but only just. Her hand came out to rest on his arm, and he met her gaze. Even in the darkness, his eyes shone with undeniable fear. He didn't need to hide it from her, which he clearly knew.

"The others are on their way." Rose whispered. Her voice was throaty from lack of use. The few supplies they'd been given had run out quickly, and they were both dehydrated. Not so much hungry, because they were being given some sort of edible food (not nice, but it satisfied their stomachs enough), but the water was dirty and disgusting, and they both refused to even touch it. Then they'd stopped bringing it for them.

"Rose, I'm not sure how much longer we'll survive in here." Oscar said.

"Don't say that. Don't give up." She mumbled, although she was sure she could see spots of blackness in front of her vision, although she wasn't even sure if that was the darkness around them, or a sign that she was dying. A little drastic, maybe, but it felt like they'd been down here ages. A few days, at the least. And SKUL had injected both of them with some kind of poison. If it wasn't dealt with soon, then they'd both die. Rose was slowly getting more and more tired, her energy flooding from her. Perhaps that explained the heightened dehydration.

"Rose? Rose. Hey, hey, look at me." Oscar was saying.

Rose didn't realize her eyes had fluttered shut. She was starting to slump on the wall behind her. They were in a small room, instead of a cell. No windows, and one door that was sealed. They had none of their spy gadgets to get them through it.

She opened her eyes and looked at him.

"We'll make it." His hand enveloped hers and squeezed her fingers. "Neither of us are allowed to give up."

"Oscar…" Rose breathed. "I think…"

"Don't say it." He mumbled, but she kept going nonetheless.

"The poison. I think it's almost affected me completely." She whispered. "And that means…"

"Stop." Oscar hissed, but not unkindly.

"Oscar, if I die here, then…" Rose trailed off. She couldn't say it, even now, she couldn't force the words out. She was getting weaker and weaker by the second. So, instead, she leaned forward and brushed her lips over his, but he was clearly too stunned to react.

Then she pulled back and slumped, hearing him calling her name as darkness closed in on her.

* * *

 **THE THIRD TIME.**

She'd recovered just fine after the incident, thankfully, but she hadn't spoken to Oscar about what happened. In fact, she'd avoided him for days on end. After all, this time there was no excuse. All those weeks ago, at SKUL's HQ, there hadn't been any mistletoe, no excuses for her kissing him. There was only the truth.

She had feelings for him. And there was nothing she could do about it.

Avril was still giving her evils for that time at the Christmas party, but the truth was that Rose couldn't care less about her. Sure, they'd been semi friends, but the girl's obsession with Oscar was starting to get on Rose's nerves anyway.

"Rose." Oscar tapped her on the shoulder and Rose tensed. They were at school, and she knew for a fact that her communicator hadn't flashed or buzzed to indicate she was meant to be going down to HQ. Cringing, she let her face don a mask of calmness, and she turned to face him. He wasn't alone.

There, beside him, was Avril.

Her hand was in his, their fingers intertwined like they fit perfectly together. And the other girl was smiling at her like they were the best of friends, not a single look of bitterness on her face.

"Listen, Rose, I just wanted to apologize for judging you so harshly. I know the mistletoe thing wasn't really your fault. It's tradition, after all." Avril smiled. "I hope we can still be friends?"

"Yeah." Rose replied, nodding.

"Oh good! Because I wouldn't want to be enemies with my boyfriend's best friend." Avril smiled brightly, but Rose's heart was sinking into her stomach.

Boyfriend's best friend.

Boyfriend.

"Listen, I'll leave you two to it. See you later, babe?" Avril asked, and she leaned up to press her lips against Oscar's. Rose averted her gaze, and she was sure she felt her heart shattering into pieces.

The shorter girl walked away, a skip in her step. Something glimmered on her finger.

Oscar's ring.

His dad's ring.

The one he rarely let anybody else touch.

She was wearing it and showing it off like it was hers.

It shook Rose right to the very core.

"Listen, Rose." Oscar began.

"So," she said, cutting him off. "You and Avril! That's great, Oscar, really." she was speaking as calmly as possible, but she knew she'd need to get away from him, and fast. "She must make you really happy."

"Rose, um…"

"Sorry, Oscar, I've gotta get going. But, um. Be happy!" Rose faked a smile and, without thinking, got up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. Or, at least, that's where she was aiming. She managed to catch the corner of his mouth, although from a distance, it looked like she'd just given him a friendly kiss on the cheek.

Oscar's eyes were wide, but Rose had already moved past him. She felt his gaze on her as she forced herself to walk away slowly. As soon as she rounded the corner, she took off into a run, shoes skidding slightly along the corridors as she held back tears.

She didn't cry until she was safely locked away in the bathrooms.

* * *

 **THE FOURTH TIME.**

Graduation day. They were all going off to different universities, off to get on with their new lives. Oscar and Avril stood hand in hand as they all received their graduation certificates, but now, at the afterparty being thrown, they were slowdancing, arms around each other. They looked so in love, it was ridiculous.

Rose could only turn away as she made her way to the lift. They'd arranged for the after party to be held in a big, flashy hotel. She went right to the top floor and stared out of the window. The view was beautiful, undeniably, but the tears in her eyes were blurring her vision.

"Rose."

His voice made her squeeze her eyes shut, two tears rolling down her cheeks. She couldn't tell him, not now, when he was so happy with Avril. Not now, when she'd decided she wasn't going to see him again.

"Are you okay?" he asked, coming up and standing beside her.

Rose opened her eyes and turned to face him. He saw the tears and reached out for her, but miraculously, she took a step back.

"I'm moving away." She said quietly.

"What?" Oscar asked, incredulous. "Why? Where are you going?"

"There's a university being built in Los Angeles. It's for very talented students. Mrs. King thought it'd be better for me to go there." She explained, folding her arms and letting her eyes wander away from him.

"But what about Oxford?" Oscar inquired, taking a step closer to her. "I thought that was your dream? And then you, me and Carrie would be able to meet up regularly, and…"

He looked like he was falling apart in front of her, and it broke her heart because, in reality, she was falling apart too.

"Oscar. I have something to tell you." Rose said quietly. "And you're not going to like it."

Oscar frowned, but made a gesture for her to go on.

She wondered about giving him a whole speech, but decided against it. "Oscar Cole, you never noticed, you never realized, but I'm completely and utterly in love with you. I have been for a long time now. And honestly, seeing and hearing you go through your future plans with Avril is killing me. I don't want to leave. But the truth is, not only is it my best option, but it's…it'll give you your best chance. I don't want to get in the way of you and someone you love, because I know how much it hurts to lose someone when you love them more than anything."

Oscar looked shocked. His eyes were filling with tears. "Rose…"

"You don't have to say anything. I'm telling you this because…" she trailed off.

"This isn't goodbye." Oscar whispered. "You'll keep in touch, won't you?"

"Carrie will let you know if anything goes wrong. But you need to live a long, happy life with Avril. And I can't let myself get in the way of that. Not now, not ever." She said.

Oscar went to speak again, but she cut him off by getting on her tiptoes and pecking him on the lips.

"Goodbye, Oscar." She said quietly, and before he could speak, she walked to the lift and stepped inside.

He watched her until the doors slid completely closed.

Then he kicked a nearby coffee table.

* * *

 **THE FIFTH TIME.**

Three years passed, and here she was, at a big MI9 reunion ball. Everyone was going to be there, apparently, and Rose was convinced by Daisy, Blane and Carrie that she had to be there.

She hadn't spoken to Oscar since the night of graduation. Apparently, he wasn't even coming to the reunion, which was what made Rose decide to come. She missed Oscar, missed him more than anything, but she felt like she'd just mess things up, and she decided that if she never saw him again, then it'd be better for him.

She walked into the main hall, wearing a strapless royal blue dress that ended just above her knees, with a line of silver gems around the waist and at the hem. Her shoes were silver with small heels, her hair was pinned up neatly, and she wore quite a bit of makeup. Frankly, she looked beautiful, although she herself didn't think so.

"ROSE!" Daisy yelled, running over. She was wearing a pink dress with golden straps. She was hand in hand with Blane, and the two of them looked at each other the way that couples do when they're plotting something, before attacking Rose, hugging her so tightly she felt like she'd snap.

"Daisy! Blane!" Rose exclaimed, hugging them back. "I've missed you guys so much!" she admitted, as they stepped back.

"Ditto, moron." Daisy said, and they all laughed. "We met Carrie and Frank." She seemed to quickly correct herself just before saying Frank's name, but Rose thought nothing of it. Daisy was probably going to say his name wrong, or whatever.

Rose's eyes traveled down to Daisy's hand, and she arched an eyebrow. "An engagement ring, huh? Something you wanna tell me?" she looked at both of them.

"We're engaged?" Blane said, as if it were obvious.

"No, really?" Rose quipped sarcastically. "When's the wedding? And am I invited?"

"Of course you are." Daisy rolled her eyes. "In fact, I want you to be my maid of honor. And the wedding's next year, around April, we're thinking."

"Rose!" Carrie's voice exclaimed, and the woman was almost barreled over by her old friend crashing into her, hugging her.

"Hey, Carrie! How are things?" she asked.

"Things are great!" she smiled, and turned to Blane and Daisy, mouthing something Rose didn't see. They all smirked and Daisy moved to Rose's other side. She and Carrie linked their arms through hers. "You need to go upstairs."

They steered her towards the stairs. "What's going on?" Rose asked.

"We'll be right up! We have a special surprise set out on the roof for you." Blane said.

"A secret team reunion? Cool." Rose grinned, and she started up the stairs, thinking nothing of it. She didn't see them smirking, high fiving, and running off into the crowd.

She climbed up flights and flights of stairs until she finally got up to the roof. There didn't seem to be anything up here. She rolled her eyes, but got sidetracked by the beautiful view of the city, and the stars above. The city lights were dim because of the late hour, so the stars were shining more brightly than normal. She found herself almost wishing Oscar was here, before quickly reminding herself that she refused to see him.

She walked to the edge of the roof, where there was a wall. She leaned over a little and looked down. She could see the main entrance of the hall. It was quite some way down. She looked across at the city and smiled sadly. It was as perfect as a painting, but the ache in Rose's heart hadn't gone away, even after seeing all her old friends.

Most of her old friends.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" a familiar voice said.

Rose whirled around, steadying herself quickly on the wall.

There he was, right in front of her. Oscar Cole.

After three years, not much had changed. He was taller, more handsome, his features a little more refined, perhaps.

She realized, suddenly, that the evil smiles and prompting for her to go to the roof had been a plot to make her talk to him.

"Those traitors." She muttered, folding her arms and averting her gaze.

"I asked them to do it." Oscar said, walking towards her. She took a step back, and hoisted herself up onto the wall. He walked over and jumped up beside her, sitting next to her. "So you really don't want to see me, huh?"

"I told you my reasons three years ago, Oscar. Nothing has changed." She muttered, looking down.

"I hoped as much." Oscar said softly.

"Oscar, please don't." she jumped down and walked to the other side of the roof, folding her arms and keeping her back to him.

"Rose, you never let me talk to you about your confession back at graduation." Oscar's voice said from behind her. He was keeping his distance, and Rose wasn't sure how that made her feel.

"Because I didn't want your pity! And I didn't want you to start acting weird because you only ever saw me as a friend. That's why, Oscar. It broke my heart to ever even have feelings for you, and guess what? Turns out, I still do. And it still hurts just as much as it did when it first started happening." Rose said.

They both fell silent and Rose sighed, a hand coming up to rest on her forehead. She heard him taking a step forward, but she didn't move, finding herself rooted to the spot.

"Rose." Oscar sighed. "You didn't even ask me how I felt. You're just assuming that you're right."

"I usually am." She muttered. "I didn't want to ask. Rejection isn't the nicest thing in the world, you know."

"I know." Oscar said. "But that's the thing. I wouldn't reject you."

Rose's eyes widened, but she didn't turn to face him. "What?" she whispered.

"Rose, do you know why I got with Avril?" he asked her, taking another step forward.

"Because you love her?" she offered.

"First of all, no. Second of all, even if I did, it'd be past tense. We didn't last a day after graduation. We broke up straight away." Oscar said quietly.

Rose froze. So all that time, three years, she'd been staying away and openly ignoring him when, in reality, the reason she was staying away wasn't even valid any more. Her hand flew up to her mouth.

"Oscar…" she breathed. "Oscar, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. I had a lot of time to think." Oscar sighed. "I wasn't with her because I liked her. She liked me, and I think that's what I liked. Truth is, the girl I actually wanted was so stupidly out of my league, I thought I didn't have a chance with her. And then when she kissed me, once under the mistletoe, and another time when we were trapped and nearly died…I chickened out. I got scared of being with the only person I'd ever consider spending the rest of my life with. I got scared of the idea of being loved completely and utterly, because I know that you do. I knew back then, that if you didn't love me already, then you would. Because you're Rose and you give all or nothing."

Rose bit down on her bottom lip harshly. He took another step forward, until his breath brushed her bare shoulder. "But when I came through it all, I realized how stupid I was. I realized what I'd given up, and for the longest time, I didn't think I'd ever see you again. I was too scared to go up to LA and risk disrupting your new life. But then I heard you were coming back for the reunion and we formed a plan. Me, Carrie, Blane and Daisy."

"I should've figured you guys would make friends." Rose muttered.

"We mainly bonded over you. Then me and Blane started talking videogames. Daisy and Carrie talked shopping. Carrie and Blane bonded over gymnastics, and me and Daisy talked about going undercover. Then before you know it, we're the best of friends." Oscar explained.

Rose drew in a sharp breath.

"But you know what was missing, what was always missing?" Oscar said quietly, and his breath was tickling her neck now as he turned his head. He moved to whisper in her ear. "You, Rose. None of us wanted to be a group of friends if you weren't part of it. The point is, we planned this whole thing. I needed to see you, Rose, even if it's too late."

"Too late…for what?" Rose breathed, distracted by how close he was to her.

Oscar's hands gently touched her hips, turning her around. He was inches from her as he pulled her in close, eyes sincere as they looked down into hers. "To tell you the truth. I love you, Rose Gupta. I always have and I always will. You're the only person I want."

Rose's lips twitched up into a smile, but when she opened her mouth to respond, he captured her mouth with his. Immediately, her eyes fluttered shut and she melted into the kiss, hands moving over his shoulders and up into his hair. She tugged lightly at the strands and he groaned into her mouth, pulling her flush against him.

They heard wolf whistles and clapping and they broke apart to see Blane, Daisy and Carrie, grinning at them proudly.

"Finally!" Carrie exclaimed, turning to Blane and Daisy. "You have no idea how hard it was to watch them be in love and not do anything about it."

"They have lots of experience in that." Rose said, grinning. "I was in your position for two years, Carrie, while I was watching those two have this whole puppy love thing going on."

"Hey!" Blane exclaimed.

"Don't worry, Blane, you were the cutest puppy." Rose teased, and they all burst into laughter.

"So if you two are done attacking each other's mouths, there's food and dancing and socializing down there that we need to get to." Daisy sighed dramatically, but winked at Rose.

"We'll be right there." Oscar promised, and the three retreated, shouting something that sounded like 'use protection!'

Rose cringed. "Some things never change."

She looked up at Oscar, gently pressing her lips to his. He held her in place by placing his hand on the back of her neck, his mouth slanting under hers. After a few moments, she pulled back, the whine that left his lips bringing a satisfied smile onto her features.

"I love you, too." She told him.

He smiled at her. "So, in that case, Rose, will you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?"

"Cliché. But yes, Oscar, I will." She giggled. "Now, c'mon. Food, socializing, dancing, our friends getting potentially angry if we don't show up…it's all calling for us."

He laughed and slid his hand into hers, and the two of them walked off the roof and down into the main hall, joining their friends.

Finally, both Rose and Oscar were happy.


End file.
